The giant tree I had seen underground in Lop Nur, while towering, was first unseen in its entirety because it grew beneath the earth, and second, we hadn't viewed it from the ground up, having entered its core directly, thus leaving no impression of grandeur.

Instead, in the pitch darkness underground, seeing such a massive, inky-black tree had inspired only a sense of the uncanny and outright terror.

The three of us stood beneath it, sighing in awe for a long time before deciding to start climbing.

I ran my hand over the bark and immediately noticed it was different from that of ordinary trees. While typical bark is rough, it is also soft enough for a fingernail to leave a white mark with a light press.

This nameless giant, however, had bark that was incredibly hard. The small nodes on its surface resembled solidified droplets of molten iron, and touching them carried a distinct, icy chill reminiscent of metal.

The three of us exchanged a glance, clearly astonished by this bizarre tree.

Daxiong, driven by curiosity, pulled out his Swiss Army knife and tried to stab the bark. Yet, even the excellent steel of the knife left not the slightest mark.

I mused that to damage such wood, one would likely need a divine artifact like the Golden Cudgel, weighing tens of thousands of jin, dropped from above with crushing force just to make it collapse, wouldn't they?

This tree’s hardness, however, posed no real issue for us, and I couldn’t be bothered to collect any more specimens; I simply hadn't the time to study those already gathered from the great underground palaces.

Daxiong, born in the Northeast, had a lifelong habit of climbing trees to find bird nests and honeycombs. Despite his somewhat bulky physique, his hands and feet gripped the bark as firmly as a gecko’s suction cups, and he was halfway up in just a few swift moves.

Nie Chuan and I followed close behind, but we couldn't match his speed.

In reality, the tree was difficult to climb: first, the surface was too hard to wedge a blade in for leverage, and second, the trunk was too wide to fully embrace, adding significant difficulty.

Daxiong perched on the trunk above us and looked back with a triumphant grin, announcing, "I bet there's a huge bird’s nest up here! I’ll be the first to raid it."

I frowned slightly, saying, "Haven't you learned your lesson? Don't go provoking strange animals unnecessarily."

Daxiong scoffed, "It’s fine. At most, there will be a couple of hatchlings in the nest. What danger could little birds possibly pose?"

With that, he resumed his rapid ascent.

Fuming from below, I called out, "Do you really think you're the master climber?"

With that declaration, I channeled my Nianli (psychokinetic energy) to propel myself upward, landing on the branch directly above Daxiong's head.

I stuck my tongue out at him and declared, "If you want a bird's nest, catch up to me first."

Daxiong was a competitive sort. Seeing me challenge him, he began hopping upward like a frog, a sight that was quite comical.

Ignoring him, I quickly scrambled toward the canopy.

The higher we climbed, the denser the surrounding branches became, offering excellent handholds, which neutralized Daxiong’s initial advantage. Gradually, I began to pull ahead.

Still, I dared not climb too fast, as the overhead branches grew increasingly thick, and the leaves formed a heavy curtain, obscuring the world within the canopy. I truly had no idea what secrets were hidden up there.

With the density of flora and fauna so high here, there certainly had to be a few creatures residing in the crown.

Just as I thought this, a strange head suddenly poked out from the thicket of leaves.

What made me gasp sharply was that this head looked remarkably human—it had long, shoulder-length hair, a nose, and eyes. However, unlike a human, its entire face was covered in fine, black scales, and its eyes were entirely black, lacking any whites.

This creature’s neck seemed unusually long; the part protruding from the brush was easily over a meter.

"What in the world is that thing?" Daxiong, seeing it from behind me, jumped in alarm as well.

I shook my head and whispered, "I don't know. But it doesn't look as cute as that raccoon we saw earlier; this one could be dangerous."

Daxiong muttered, "Should we go down now?"

I shook my head. "Don't make any rash moves. Let's observe for a bit longer."

Daxiong was clearly wary; he remained still and silently cautioned Nie Chuan, who was lowest, to do the same.

The three of us stared silently at the strange figure above. After a while, the monstrosity began to sway back and forth, as if performing push-ups.

It neither attacked nor attempted to hide; it merely rocked back and forth in this bizarre manner, leaving me truly perplexed.

Then, after a moment, I suddenly recalled seeing a similar scene in a nature documentary. It seemed to be a courtship display performed by some kind of lizard during its mating season.

Damn it… Thinking this, I was utterly stunned.

Sure enough, the scaled creature began to slowly creep toward me while swaying its body, its facial expression alarmingly suggestive, making me profoundly uncomfortable.

Not knowing how to handle the situation, Daxiong called up from below, "What the hell is this black-faced freak doing? Is it listening to rock music?"

He then started singing, "The endless horizon is my love, flowing into this sea of myriad colors." As he sang, he began to sway as well.

I realized the danger immediately. In the mating rituals of lizards, they exhibit strong aggression toward their own kind. Daxiong’s swaying now signaled a challenge for a mate.

I quickly turned back, blinking frantically at Daxiong, "Stop swaying... Stop it now."

Daxiong, however, refused to listen. He asked, "Want to join in? If we get familiar with it, maybe it can lead us to water. If we’re going to party, let's all party!"

I was speechless, unsure of what to say.

Just then, a sharp hiss came from above. The creature with the entirely black face had its 'hair' stand on end, and its body subtly inflated, making it appear twice its original size.

I knew this was the prelude to an attack. It seemed Daxiong had indeed been perceived as a rival for mating rights.

Before I could react, the creature shot down with blinding speed, sweeping past me and diving straight toward Daxiong, who was still "partying."

Daxiong saw the hostile approach, abruptly stopped swaying, and demanded, "What the hell is going on?"

Before he could finish, I saw them locked in combat.

At that moment, I clearly saw that while the head was somewhat human-like, the rest of the body was entirely reptilian.

It possessed four very long limbs, its feet divided into five toes, each presumably ending in suction cups. The entire body was about seven or eight meters long, the main propulsion resembling a snake, but the four legs looked somewhat like a chicken's feet.

In the rural areas of Sichuan where I grew up, geckos were also called 'chicken-foot snakes,' a species considered quite uncanny and generally disliked.

As a child, seeing such things made me cry; seeing one this large, and one with a human face, sent a chill down my spine.

Despite the creeping dread, I could not stand by while it threatened Daxiong.

"Stop!" I used the immobilization technique Sun Wukong had taught me, and in that fraction of a second, I drew my knife and plunged it deep into the giant gecko’s tail.

Time snapped back into motion almost instantly. When the gecko regained mobility, it was unable to continue its attack on Daxiong, instead emitting a strange shriek as the pain shot up from its tail.

Daxiong was clearly no match for the fierce creature and scrambled down the trunk.

The monster, having missed its target and feeling the sharp pain in its tail, instantly realized I was the one interfering and spun around, lunging toward me.

I cursed, "Damn it! You were so aggressive toward me, yet you wanted to OOXX with me? I’m out!"

I extended my hand and unleashed the Wind Charm, blasting it backward.

However, the force seemed too great. As it fell, the force applied to its tail was so extreme that the entire appendage snapped off.

Losing its tail is not a serious injury for a gecko, as they can regenerate it.

Indeed, the tailless, human-faced gecko became even more agile and ferocious, opening its mouth wide to lunge at Daxiong.

Frantic from behind, I could only unleash the Wind Charm again, attacking the lizard.

As Sun Wukong had warned, the monsters in this forest were no ordinary foes. When my Wind Charm struck again, the lizard actually turned back, opened its massive jaws, and swallowed the entire force of my spell, letting out a low rumble before spewing it back out.

I moved two or three meters aside in surprise, narrowly dodging its regurgitated attack.

Before I could recover, the gecko slowly extended its tongue. I saw that its tongue was covered entirely in black, backward-facing barbs.

I knew that geckos usually extend their tongues slowly when hunting moths, then suddenly lash them out to stick to their prey before yanking it into their mouths.

But this preparatory movement was incredibly fast, usually allowing little time for an opponent to prepare.

Fortunately, that momentary pause saved my life.

I moved perhaps only a meter sideways based on instinct, and then a tongue shot past me faster than a bullet, embedding itself deep into the tree trunk beside me, piercing straight through the wood.

My heart sank. We had tested the hardness of this tree earlier; even a military knife couldn't scratch it, yet now a tongue had pierced it clean through, demonstrating the sheer power of the appendage.

Daxiong and the others saw the scene from behind and frantically shouted, "Damn it! Don't fight it head-on! If we can't win, let's get out of here!"

Though I knew they were right, some unfamiliar surge of anger overcame me, and I decided to lock horns with this lizard.

While its tongue was still lodged in the tree and couldn't be pulled out, I poured all my Nianli into my fist and executed a Flash Strike Punch, slamming it hard against the monster's face.

Constrained by its tongue, the creature couldn't retreat even after taking my blow, only managing to emit a strange, high-pitched scream.

I felt a burst of pride and taunted it, "Keep sticking your tongue out! Spit it out again! See if I don't beat you to death, you ugly freak!"

Perhaps my words had an effect, driving the lizard to a frenzy of shame and rage. It suddenly bit down hard and cleanly severed its own tongue.